George Osborne : villain or hero ?

Recently, British Chancellor of Exchequers, George Osborne announced many measures to pull the British economy out of depression. Among others, these measures included :

Ø Starting 2013,  1 % cap on Public Sector pay for 2 years, once the current two-year pay freeze ends

Ø Plans to raise the state pension age from 66 to 67 would be brought forward by 8 years to 2026

Ø 1 billion pound scheme to subsidize work placements for the young unemployed

Despite these measures, unemployment is expected to rise from 8.2 % this year to 8.7 % next year

Job losses in public sector would nearly double to 710,000 , compared to earlier estimate of 400,000

Questions to be debated :

Ø If British Govt can impose a pay freeze for 4 years in Public sector, should British private sector follow suit ?

Ø To keep wage-costs under control, should employers be allowed to hire temporary / contractual staff on a fixed salary for , say , 2 years ?

Ø Will that encourage employers to hire more people ?

Ø Can inflation be better controlled thru a pay freeze ( less money in people’s pockets ), rather than thru hikes in interest rates ?

Ø Since salaries / wages are a major input-cost, can such freeze hold the production costs constant ?

Ø Will pay freeze lead to a “ low cost “ economy , making British products much more competitive internationally ?

Ø If this “experiment “ is successful, can it possibly lay the foundation of a National Wage Policy which pegs maximum annual wage-increase percentages  to 90 % of the rise in the Consumer Price Index of the preceding year, for both, the private and the public sector employees ? Can such mechanism , set in motion , a “ Virtuous Circle “ ?

Ø Can such a policy automatically control inflation without haphazard / half-cooked external interventions by Central Banks ?

Only history will decide whether George Osborne was a villain or a hero !

With regards

hemen  parekh

USE BLACK MONEY FOR EDUCATION ? WHY NOT ?

29 Nov 2011

USE  BLACK  MONEY  FOR  EDUCATION ?  WHY NOT  ?

E & Y and FICCI came out with a report :

“ Private Sector participation in Higher Education , 2011 “

Here are its findings , as reported in DNA ( 25 Nov 2011 ) :

·        Over 52 % students of India are studying in private higher educational institutes

·        14 million students are enrolled in 31,000 higher educational institutions across India

·        Central Govt targets to enroll 40 million students in higher education , by 2020

This will require :

·     25 million additional seats

·     Investment of Rs.10 lakh crores

·        Central Govt expects that 50 % of this investment ( ie : Rs. 5 lakh crores ) would come from private sector

Ground reality :

·        Govt will never find its share of Rs 5 lakh crores

·        Private sector can – and will – find the entire sum of Rs 10 lakh crore, if sufficiently “ incentivized “

What Incentives ?

·        Allow investing of black monies [ thru SPVs ], in higher education of only girls – especially girls from SC / ST / OBC / Dalit communities  

·        No questions asked as to the source

·        Tax-free income for 5 years

Outcome ?

·        India will overtake the entire world in creation of “ Intellectual Property “ and in creation of jobs

I hope , someone forwards this to Kapil Sibal / Pranab Mukherjee / Soniaji Gandhi / Behen Mayawatiji / Mamta Didi / Jayalalithaji etc

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH  

THOSE WHO CANNOT COMPETE , WILL PARISH

 24 Nov 2011

THOSE  WHO  CANNOT  COMPETE , WILL  PARISH

India’s one time telecom giant Bharat Sanchar Nigam ( BSNL ) is facing some stiff competition

With a current staff strength of 277,000 , BSNL spends nearly Rs.13,791 Crores on annual salary bill

This is 46.5 % of its total income

So BSNL has come up with a Voluntary Retirement Scheme [ VRS ], thru which , it wants to reduce staff strength by 99,700

By paying , on an average , Rs 20 lakhs per person

That would cost it Rs. 18,181 Crores

No problem ! Central Government (ie: poor people of India), will foot the bill

After VRS is implemented , BSNL will outsource functions like

·      Transmission and Switching System Installation

·      Training

·      Civil Engineering

·      Architectural work

That is not going save BSNL from extinction

Only reason BSNL must suffer a painful slow death is that no one can revive it – so no one will buy it !

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

PETROL PRICES : LET THESE RISE !

23 Nov 2011

PETROL  PRICES :  LET THESE RISE !

When petrol prices are raised, a few million car – owners bear that burden.

When petrol prices are artificially kept low, hundreds of millions of middle class people end-up subsidizing those rich car owners !

Because oil companies / refining companies are mostly owned by Government of India

If they make losses, Central Govt subsidizes them – by raising taxes on everybody !

If in doubt , look at the following figures for FY 2011 ( as reported in Economic Times / 22 Sept 2011 ) :

• Total Under-recoveries ………………………………. Rs.  78,190  Crores

Burden sharing :

• Oil Bonds / Cash from Govt ………………………….Rs.   41,000  Crores

• Discount by Upstream Companies………………..Rs.   30,297  Crores

• Burden on Oil Marketing Companies…………….Rs.      6,893 Crores

Do politicians realize that, ultimately , it is the middle class and poor people who bear the entire burden of “ Under-recoveries “ – whichever way you look at it !

Coming to think of it , “ Under-recoveries “ are nothing but “ Inefficiencies “ of the oil companies !

As long as we try to keep alive these oil companies , poor will continue to bear the burden of this “ Life Support System “ !

Just pull the plug – or stop protesting .

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

Mobile Internet Kiosk

At a press conference in Bangalore [ India ] yesterday, Ms Revathi Muthanna, Business Development Manager, HP Labs-India, announced the the launch of their widget,

                                     “  Jobs  for  All  “

Explaining “ Jobs for All “, she said :

Ø   This is a free app for Android based smart phones

Ø  It is developed in collaboration with www.CustomizeResume.com

Ø  It can be downloaded by entering in mobile browser ………………….

Ø  If a jobseeker is registered on CustomizeResume, he will get to view job alerts, by entering his mobile number in the widget

Ø  He can apply against any of these job alerts, simply by touching the APPLY button

Ø  “ Jobs for All “ eliminates the need for a PC / broadband connection. In fact, it “ obsoletes “ job searches on job portals !

Ø  Since hundreds of jobseekers can “ Apply “ against their respective job alerts from a single device, “ Jobs for All “ widget, converts a smart phone into a ,

                             Mobile  Internet  Kiosk

Ø   There are millions of jobseekers in remote corners of India, where there is no internet penetration. Such a mobile kiosk will provide to such rural jobseekers, a level-playing field in the job market and bridge the “ Digital Divide “ with their city cousins.

Ø  Before long, HP Labs – India, expects to release similar widget based on Apple O/S

Ø  It is also expected that many Indian smart phone manufacturers will pre-install “ Jobs for All “ widget before shipping to dealers, giving them competitive advantage to gain market share

with regard,

hemen parekh

Indians are overworked

Here are some depressing findings reported in DNA [ Nov. 14, 2011 ] :
 45 % of Indian workers work 9 – 11 hours / day ( Global average is 38 % )
 10 % of employees work for over 11 hours / day
How many Indian workers have the bad habit of taking work home ?
 53 % of field workers
 29 % of office workers
Are Indian workers trying to get ahead of their colleagues in the rat-race ? Or simply worried to lose their jobs if lagging behind ?
May be they fear what is happening to jobless in Eurozone !
Certainly, they are not motivated by Pundit Nehru’s slogan :
“ Aaram haraam hai ! “
With regards
hemen parekh

WEAKER SEX IS STRONGER !

15 Nov 2011

WEAKER  SEX  IS  STRONGER  !

As per DNA ( Nov.14,2011 ), India’s suicide statistics ( 2010 ) are as follows :

·      Total number of suicides . ……………………1,34,599 ( 368 / day )

·      Men / Women Ratio ………………………………. 65 : 35

·      % age who were married ………………………  69.2 %

·      % age who were unmarried …………………… 22.8 %

·      Married Men / Married Women ………………. 1.9 / 1

·      Unmarried Men / Unmarried Women …….  1.8 / 1

Conclusion ?

In India ,if you are a man and married , learn to meditate !

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH

PARTICIPATORY ADVERTISING

4 Nov 2011

PARTICIPATORY ADVERTISING

Source : Times of India / Nov. 03, 2011 / Excerpts from :

“ Conventional advertising makes way for participatory campaigns “

• Brands need to create communication that is personal and relevant for consumers

• How conventional advertising is making way for communication that is participatory, one which is two-way conversation between brands and consumers

• “ There is an increasing need for compelling content to engage consumers with a brand “….. Simon Bond. .CMO/BBDO

• Brands are trying hard today to ensure greater consumer engagement

• As a marketer you need to create experiences that are remarkable

• If a brand makes full optimization of new age platforms and personalizes its response to its consumers, the brand will immediately become a part of conversation that can have the potential to involve thousands of people

• Simon Bond :

• “ We are living in a true social revolution “

• Deepa Prahalad – Author and Business Strategist  

                  “  The frequency of interaction with the consumer is very  important for building up this trust “

With regards

HEMEN  PAREKH